AGENDA DATE: 8/3/2016
TITLE:
Title
Program and Service Inventory Overview
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Overview of General Government’s Updated Program and Service Inventory
ITEM TYPE: Regular Information Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Foley, Letteri, Walker, Catlin, Kamptner, and Lori Allshouse
PRESENTER (S): Lori Allshouse
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Thomas C. Foley
BACKGROUND: The Five-Year Financial Plan presented to the Board during the Five Year Plan and FY 17 Annual Budget process demonstrated that the cumulative impacts of community and Board aspirations, growing citizen expectations, and service obligations associated with population growth is anticipated to outpace available resources into the future. During this process, the Board, staff, and the public had significant discussions about the long-term structural fiscal imbalance facing the County and the critical need to address that gap on a long-term basis. The County recognizes that finding a balance between a realistic level of revenues going forward into the future and expenditures that can be supported by that revenue is a challenging task that must be accomplished through Board of Supervisors and community dialogue, and serious choices about the allocation of available resources.
Beginning this fiscal year, the County has undertaken a priority driven budgeting process that will result in the development of a recommended balanced Two Year (FY 18 - FY 19) Fiscal Plan. This Plan will reflect Board and community priorities, support essential County services, and set the County on a path towards the achievement of a more aspirational future. This process involves the Board, staff, and the public working through a comprehensive process of identifying priority services and necessary funding levels to support those services, then aligning resources and desired services in a sustainable way for the future.
On May 17, 2016, the Board held a strategic priority setting session that initiated this process. During the next several months, the Board will continue to be actively engaged in the further clarification of its strategic priorities, in understanding specific program and service costs and impacts, and in providing direction to staff regarding resource allocation that will shape the development of the Two-Year Fiscal Plan.
Since the Board’s strategic planning sessions, staff has been carefully updating its inventory of current program and services and has been working towards the development of specific recommendations that will begin to address the Board’s top strategic plan priorities during the time-frame of the upcoming Two Year Fiscal plan.
STRATEGIC PLAN: This discussion item relates to all areas of the County’s Strategic Plan with a focus on the FY 18 - FY 19 strategic priorities.
DISCUSSION: On August 3, staff will present the draft FY 17 program and service inventory for the Board’s review. The FY 17 inventory includes the programs and services provided by the County’s general government operations, including those provided by County departments, Constitutional Officers, and agencies. The inventory also includes the County’s non-departmental obligations, such as the revenue-sharing payment to the City of Charlottesville and contingencies. This version of the inventory includes the name of the program and service provider, a description of the specific program or service, the estimated number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees who perform the program or service, and the estimated total amount budgeted to each program and service in the current FY 17 budget. It should be noted that many of these programs and services, such as those provided by the Department of Social Services, have offsetting state or federal revenues that support some (or all) of the associated costs.
To provide an important perspective by which to view these County’s programs and services, the inventory includes a column which indicates which of the programs and services are primarily:
a) Mandated by the State or Federal Government - those which are mandated by a State or Federal constitutional, statutory, or administrative action that places requirements on local governments;
b) Essential functions of local government - those which are not mandated, but are essential for a local government of the County’s size;
c) Provided in accordance with local ordinance or written directive - those which are primarily provided in accordance with the Board’s written directives, such as the Strategic Plan and local (non-state or federal-related) ordinances; or
d) Primarily discretionary in nature - those provided in accordance with Board’s discretion which do not meet any other of the aforementioned categories.
Staff recognizes that, while this categorization provides another important and useful factor in the consideration of the General Government’s program and services, the following limitations should be noted:
i) Categorization of programs and services into one of four distinct categories is subjective to a degree and not everyone may agree on each of the determinations.
ii) Many programs and services could be included in more than one category. The category selected for each program/service is staff’s best determination of the most primary classification for that particular program/service.
iii) State or Federal mandates imposed upon local governments are not always program-specific and could impact a number of programs and services to a greater or lesser degree.
The Leadership Council will continue to review and discuss the information included in the program and service inventory and report back to the Board in September. These efforts will result in a determination of the level of effort associated with mandated programs, the results obtained, as well as the impact to the County if a non-mandated program or service were to be eliminated or reduced. The Leadership Council will also rank the list of program and services and will make recommendations as to whether efforts or financial resources could be reduced or redirected to more effectively address the County’s top priorities.
BUDGET IMPACT: The priority based budgeting process and the two year fiscal planning process will assist the Board and staff in determining and setting County priorities, given the County’s fiscal environment.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
This information is provided for the Board’s information. In September, the Board will review the Leadership Council’s initial recommendations associated with the program and service inventory, as well as the recommended resources required to address the Board’s top strategic priorities. The Board’s direction on these items will inform the development of the Two Year Fiscal Plan.
ATTACHMENTS: None. The FY 17 Program and Service Inventory will be provided to the Board at the August 3rd Board meeting.